And since we're on the subject, I might as well mention how heartbreaking it was to see in the last episode during the whole gun incident, how River snaps back to reality and finds herself surrounded with a loaded gun in her hand and no idea how it got there in the first place
and she looks to Kaylee for comfort, actually calls out for her not Simon, and all she sees is fear
and it really sucks, because she and Kaylee had actually bonded and become friends.. and aside from Simon, she was the first person in the crew with whom she had started to feel normal, goofing off and playing around as young girls do
but in that moment, Kaylee sees her as a stranger, sees River herself as a loaded gun waiting to go off at any moment, and I think it makes River feel more alone than ever before.
I really need to commend Joss Whedon and everyone involved in the making of this episode, because the way they managed to portray how isolating it can be to live with a mental illness is nothing short of incredible, imo. They made use of filmmaking techniques to make us experience how jarring, confusing, frightening and ultimately devastating it can be to not have control over your mind, and how misunderstood a person suffering from these episodes can feel.
